Method and apparatus for making handkerchiefs and like articles



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METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 9, 1935 15 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Gustave A. Anderson, 8

ATTO R N EY 5 Sept. 8, 1936. G. A. ANDERSON 2,053,257

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ATTO RN EYS Sept. 8, 1936. G.- A. ANDERSON 2,053,257

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 9, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 3 IlO lfig. 2a.

'INVENTOI? Gustave A.And rson,

5 CI M ATTORNEYS P 1936- e. A. ANDERSON 2,053,257

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HANDKEBCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES Fil ed Feb. 9, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 4 0 240 M8 HQ: I H8 I28 7 238 Z40 3 234 I20 I08 |Z m 7 V 237 B; 0W M m INVENTOR Gusta A finder son.

P 1936- G. A. ANDERSON 2,053,257

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 9, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 6 I 'I I l I268 '24 I n 3m 70 I8 I60 2 I46 O 3 3IZ :1 L 1 2 I 314 i 24-1 I i 378- 2e, 7a 3 58 4s I 27 374' 22 323 I; l3 lb I t; 13 l 1l 74 i 42"' l qs 1% 203 1 356 352, 46 mag I82 zoo I, a 3 no 54 I I 4 ZOI l I l I I l I4 .325 r 226 I84 m4 I56 nas I27 I 31 Z28 PRESSER SW1NG BLANK FEED KN E AUXRIARY YOOT MACHINE RA? FEEDERS OPERHTOR STARTER OPE HTOR FIRST 5 x zoL SIJXCK BAR CLAMPING WEB FEED FOLDER WEB BLADE$ FINGER CONTROL BLADES CLAMP PA A f "s W" W L 1 3 L w- LN INVENTOR gustave A. Anderson,

ATTORNEYS P 1936- G. A. ANDERSON 2,053,257

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 9, 1955 13 Sheets-Sheet '7 INVENTOR Gust ave AAnderson,

ATTOR N EYS Sept. 8, 1936. G. A. ANDERSON METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 9, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 8 I NVEN T OR.

Gusrave A. And vson B (l AT T ORNEY S Sept. 8, 1936- G. A. ANDERSON METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 9, 19:55 13 Sheets-Sheet 9 INVENTOR Gbsnave AAnderson.

P 1936- G. A. ANDERSON 2,053,257

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 9, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 10 INVENTOR Gustave A.F\nders0n.

AT T O'RN EYS P 8, 1936- G. A. ANDEYRSON 2,053,257

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 9, 1935 13 Sheets-Sheet 11 Fig. 29.

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ATTORNEYS Sept. 8, 1936. G. A. ANDERSON 2,053,257

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 9, 1955 1:5 Sheets-Sheet 12 6. w w 3 O 8 z 0 V m 3 O 7 H w. I d 2 Mo 4 m WW n v m M. \MN/ er No, .wv a o 3 wm 3 33 B m emu M 5 r I I ,1: 51 1 I r .n H,

lNVELNT'OR Gustave A. Anderson,

ATTORNEYS Sept. 8, 1936. e. A. ANDERSON v 2,053,257

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES Filed Feb. 9, 1955 13 Sheets-She Hgi43. N Q

\ Gustave A. Anderson Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES METHOD AND APPARKTUS FOR MAKING HANDKERCHIEFS AND LIKE ARTICLES 1 Gustave A. Anderson, New York, N. Y.,- assignor to The International Handkerchief Manufacturing 00., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 9, 1935, Serial No. 5,829 'f,

77 Claims.

My invention relates to a machine and process for cutting and stitching articles, and more particularly to an arrangement for cutting, hemming and hemstitching handkerchiefs.

5 In the manufacture of handkerchiefathe usual practice is to hem the opposite sides ofa web of material, tear or cut 011 handkerchief lengths from such web, and then feed the lengths individually and by hand to suitable machines which form hems on the two unhemmed edges. This produces a finished handkerchief, but requires a large amount of skillful manual labor.

Various attempts have been made to devise machines which will produce handkerchiefs or lli similar articles from a web of material automatically and without manual operations. but heretoplicated and unsuccessful.

The primary object of the present invention is to produce handkerchiefs in finished form from a web of material (which is preferably already hemmed along its longitudinal edges) entirely automatically. The steps accomplished include the cutting of handkerchief lengths or blanks from the web, the folding of the edges of the blanks, and the sewing of such folded edges to form the hems.

The machine according to my invention is simple in its design and operation. The working parts are relatively few, and the control of the machine requires no special skill. The power required is slight. Yet the handkerchiefs produced are of high quality. The hems formed will be accurate and neat, and the sizes of the handkerchiefs produced will not vary appreciably.

Many novel features are embodied in my invention, the advantages of which will be discussed below. However, the general plan of operation may be outlined briefly. The web material, pre- 40 viously hemmed on its longitudinal edges either separately or immediately before it enters the machine, is gripped and approximately the required amount to form a handkerchief is drawn across the machine. The exact length is then adjusted by producing a suitable amount of slack in the web portion. The blank is now clamped'along its ends and cut off from the web.

After the blank is cut off, and while it is still held in its cut position, the first fold is given to the unhemmed or raw edges. The blank is then moved transversely to the length of the web and kerchief is then complete.

An important object of the invention is to measure off from a web blanks of varying size, the edges of which are to be sewn or folded, while. keeping these edges in the same position and at the same distance apart regardless of the size of? 5 thetblank. 1

One of the principal features is in this art-i rangement for giving the desir edsize to the handkerchief or other article. This is accomplished by the joint operation of two parts. First, when the 10 web has been drawn in, a bar extending transversely to the web moves down and creates a slack in the portion which is to form the blank. ,This 1 measures off the required amount of the web, and, by adjustment of the movement of such bar thel f g width of the article can be varied without changing the movement of the grippers or any other" part. The blank is clamped and cut, and'as the first fold is made while the blank is still held by the clamps the width of the handkerchief is fixed. 20

at that time and will not be varied by the hemming operation.

A further purpose accomplished by the slack bar is to provide a certain slack between the raw edges. As the edges are to be sewn simultaneous-, ly, this slack is practically necessary. If no slack is provided, any slight difference in speed between the stitching mechanisms will distort and damage the goods. With a slack, however, it is immaterial if such differences in speed occur.

The slack bar also makes it possible to construct the hem turners as straight line continuations of the first fold bars, which increases, the. simplicity and ease of operation.

Another important part of the device is the auxiliary feeder. In feeding the blank through the folder, the material should be gripped near its edge, that is, on the turned or folded portion. In forming narrow hems, however, such a feeding device could not guide the material sufliciently far as it would strike the presser foot of the machine before the blank is beneath this foot. The auxiliary feed mechanism acts to grip the blank just before it reaches the sewing machine'in a'line to one side of, and particularly inside of, the 45 presser' 'foot. This mechanism then feeds the blank under the pre'sser foot while it is released by the main blank feeder.

Ifqne sewing machine should run faster than the other, the stopping of both machines only when eachhad completed its hem would cause its raw edges further folded by suitable devices, from which the edges pass beneath machines, which sew both edges simultaneously. The handone machine to run idle. To avoid this, separate stop mechanisms'are. provided for each machine so that when" a machine completes its hem it stops, regardless of the position of the other ma- 55 tion will appear more fully from the following description, particularly when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a machine embodying my invention, at the beginning of its operation.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the right hand portion (Fig. 1) of the machine, at the beginning of the operation.

Fig. 2a is a continuation of Fig. 2 showing the left hand portion of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the machine as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side view from the opposite side.

Fig. 5 is an end view from the right end in Fl 1.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the machine in the position in which the blank is about to be fed.

Fig. 7 is a cross section on the line of Fig. 3.

Figs. 8 and 9 are diagrammatic views of the two cam shafts showing the relative shapes and angular positions of the various cams at the beginning of the operation.

Fig. 10 is an end view of the web feeding mechanism, with the gripper operating mechanism.

Figs. 11 and 12 are detail perspective views of the grippers in closed and open positions'respectively.

Fig. 13 is an end view of the slack forming mechanism and the web holding mechanism.

Fig. 14 is a detail perspective of the web holding bar and the adjacent parts.

Fig. 15 is an end view of the blank clamping mechanism and first fold mechanism.

Fig. 16 is a top plan view of parts of the same.

Fig. 17 is an enlarged cross section on the line ll-ll of Fig. 16.

Fig. 18 is a side view of the cutting mechanism.

Fig. 19 is a detail cross section on the line I9l 9 of Fig. 18.

Fig. 20 is a perspective view of the blank feeding mechanism, including the feed jaw control mechanism.

Fig. 21 is a perspective view of the blank feed jaw and its supports.

Fig. 22 is an end view of the same. a

Fig. 23 is a top plan view of the left hem folding mechanism.

Fig. 24 is a side elevation of the same.

Figs. 25 to are cross sections on the lines 25-25, 26--26, 2|2|, 2828, 29-29 and 80-38 respectively of Fig. 23.

Figs. 31, 32 and 33 are bottom plan, side and end views respectively of a part of the hem folder.

Fig. 34 is a cross section on the line -44 of Fig. 31.

Fig. 35 is a perspective view of the auxiliary feed mechanism and the presser foot operating mechanism.

Fig. 35a is a perspective view of a portion of the sewing machine control mechanism.

Fig. 36 is a side elevation of the sewing machine stop mechanism, circuit breaker and sewing machine restoring mechanism.

Fig. 37 is a front view of a part of the same.

Fig. 38 is a front view of the latch release.

Fig. 39 is an end view of the thread break stop mechanism.

Fig. 40 is a wiring diagram of the electric connections for the sewing machine stop and thread break stop mechanisms.

Figs. 41 and 42 are sections showing the positions of some of the parts after the feeding and measuring and after the cutting and first folding respectively.

Figs. 43 to 49 are sketches showing in plan view the various stages during the operation of the machine. Figs. 43a to 48: are sectional views corresponding to Figs. 43 to 48 respectively.

The construction of the machine will first be described, and then its operation explained. In general, the apparatus consists of the cutting portion A, the folding portion B, and the sewing portion C. All these are mounted on a single frame consisting of uprights l2, cross members I: and longitudinal members l4, this frame having a platform l5 at the sewing end C.

Drive and general control The machine may be operated by an electric motor IE or any other suitable source of power which through a belt l8 drives pulley 20 loosely mounted on transverse shaft 22 journalled in the frame. On the shaft is a clutch member 24 splined on shaft 22 which may be moved by hand control lever 28 to clutch pulley 20 to the shaft.

A spring 21 acts on the lever 28 to hold the clutch member 24 in engaged position. This clutch starts or stops the operation of the whole machine.

Shaft 22 on its ends carries sprockets 28 which through chains 30 turn clutch parts 32. The cooperating clutch parts 34 are pulleys which through belts 38 drive the sewing machines 88 which are supplied with thread from suitable spools 39.

Bevel gear 48 on shaft 22 engages a gear on the longitudinal shaft 42 which through worm gearing 44 drives clutch member 46 freely mounted on transverse shaft 48. The cooperating clutch member 58 is controlled by a hand lever 52 so that shaft 48 may be driven as desired. Lever 52 is engageable with either of two notches 53 in the transverse frame member l3 so that it will be held in either clutching or declutching position. Shaft 48 may be provided with a hand wheel 54 for manual operation.

Shaft 48 also through a pair of gears 56 drives the transverse cam shaft 58. Gears 56 are preferably removable, so that they may be replaced by other gears of different proportions to change the speed of the cam shaft relative to the sewing mechanism. Shaft 58 through bevel gears 68 drives longitudinal cam shaft 62.

Web guide different widths of material by the setting of one of the end members 61 which may slide longitudinally of the bars 64 and 65. An edge guide arrangement 66 keeps the web in its proper position as it passes across the outer table portion 68, this edge guide consisting of a blade spaced inwardly by about the width of the hem from the edge of the path of the web and thus forming a track for the hem along one edge of the web.

Web feeding mechanism The feeding of the web is caused by grippers which -move transversely across the machine (Figs. 10, 11, 12). A cam'10 on shaft 62 through bell crank lever 1I pivoted on the frame, link 12 and arm 13 rocks a shaft 14 on which arm 13 is fixed near the bottom of frame I2. Arms 16 mounted on this shaft are connected by link 18 to a bar 80 which is mounted to slide across the machine in guides 82, .formed of spaced parallel fiat bars. Members 84 at theends of bar 80 carry at their upper ends a fixed rod 86 on which the lower fingers 88 of the gripper are fixedly mounted. Three grippers are provided, and between these are supports 80 to prevent sagging of the edge held by the grippers. The upper fingers 82 -are pivoted on rod 86 andare constantly urged into closed or gripping position by springs 84. Springs 85 connected to arms 16 and to the frame normally urge the arms in a direction to advance the gripping fingers, the cam 'lll'acting for the return movement of the fingers and the actual feeding of the web.

Gripper operating mechanism The grippers are opened at. the proper times to grasp or release the web (Figs. 10, 12) A cam 86 on shaft 62 through link 88 and arm I00 oscillates a rock shaft I02. Fingers I04 fixed on this shaft overlie rollers I05 on the rear ends of movable gripping fingers 82 when the grippers are in the retracted position shown in Figs. 1 and 10. In the advanced position (broken lines," Fig. 10), fingers 82 are operatedby fingers I06 on a rock shaft I08 journalled oncross frame bars I I0. This shaft is operated in unison with shaft I02 by a link II2 pivoted to arms H3 and H5 fixed on the two shafts I02 and I08 respectively. A spring II1 tends to hold fingers I04 and I06 in raised position.

Measuring and slack-forming mechanism Central table 68 is provided with a central space II4 extending the whole length of the blank forming and folding parts of the machine. A shaft II6 (Fig. 13) rotatably mounted in ears II8 on cross frame bars IIO carries arms I20 at the end of which is a bar I22 extending transversely of the web W or longitudinally of the machine. This bar can swing downward below table 68 through the space II4 to the broken line position shown in Fig. 13, while arms I20 enter slots I23 in the table 68 so that the possible movement of the bar is very considerable.

A cam I24 on shaft 62 through rod I26 moves arm I28 fixed on shaft H6 and thus rocks the bar I22. The extent of movement of the bar can be regulated by varying the position of a bolt I30 at the end of rod I26 in a slot I32-in arm I28. Spring I34 connected to the end of arm I28 normally tends to hold the bar I22 in raised position.

I36 (Figs. 15, 16, 17') mounted on arms I38,

I38 pivoted on ears I38 extending downward from cross frame members IIO. Each of these blades is provided at its inner edge with an upstanding flange I40, I40. At the inner end of each fiange, that is, the end nearest the folding and sewing mechanisms, is a guide blade I42 comprising a small member parallel to but slightly spaced above the body of the blade and its inner end bent up as at I44.

These blades are operated jointly by a single cam I46 on shaft 62 which through rod I41, lever I48, link I50 and arm I52 moves the sh'aftl53 on which arm I38 is mounted. Lever I48 'isfixed on the shaft I53 of arm I38. Thus, both the blades are operated simultaneously. A spring I54 acting on the end of lever I48 tends to hold the blades in raised position.

Web clamping mechanism At the proper time, the web W is cut by a knife I14 (Figs. 18 and 19) which passes between clamping blade I36 and web clamping bar I56. This is preferably a rotating disc knife mounted on a shaft I16 which is guided in a slot I18 formed by parallel bars I18 extending transversely to the path of the web. Shaft I16 is mounted in the end of a lever I pivoted at its lower end on a lever I82 which is journalled in the longitudinal frame member I4. A cam I84 on shaft 58 through rod I 86 rocks arm I88, on the same shaft with which is fixed a lever I80 connected by link I82 to lever I80. A spring I84 tends to move levers I88 and I80 to the left (Fig. 3), while a second spring I85 connected to an arm mounted on the shaft of lever I82- tends to move this lever clockwise (Fig. 1). This combination of springs forms something in the nature of a snap action arrangement, so that when the arm I80 carrying the knife moves past a certain point going in either direction the springs will cause the knife to continue its movement to the end of its path. This arrangement causes the knife to move across the fabric.

The knife is rotated by a belt I81 passing over a pulley I88 on the shaft I16 and a second pulley 20I on a shaft 203 at the pivot point of lever I80 on lever I82 driven by a sprocket I86 and chain I88 from a sprocket 200 on shaft 22.

First fold mechanism The central portion 68 of the table is at a slightly lower level than the portion 68 onto which the web is fed. At each side of this central portion, and Just outside each of the clamping blades I36, I36 is a shoulder 202 running substantially the whole length of the blank forming portion of the machine (Figs. 14, 15, 16, 1'1, 41 and 42), the upper surface of each shoulder however being below the level of the first table section 68. Inside these shoulders and below the blades I36, I36 are shoulders 204, lower than slioulders 202 by slightly more than the thickness of blades I36; I 36' so that when the blades are depressed on a blank the upper surfaces of blades I36, I36 and shoulders 202 are substantially in the same plane.

At one end of the table are pivoted blocks 206 from which thin folding blades 208 extend, these blades normally lying above and in coincidence with shoulder 202. A spring 2I0 acting on block 206 normally urges blade 208 outward, such movement being limited by a stop 2l2. It is evident that when blades I36, I36 are depressed, blades 208 can swing in over the clamping blades.

To move the blades 208, I provide levers 2l4 pivoted at the sides of table portion 68 and having nose portions 2l6 which engage blocks 206. Levers 2 are operated from shaft 62 by a cam 2l8, rod 220. lever arm 222 fixed on the same shaft as the right hand lever 2 (Fig. 15) and link 224 connected to the left hand lever 214. A spring 225 acts on arm 222 and normally holds the levers 2 in inoperative position.

Blank feeder When a blank has been cut and the first fold made, it must then be fed through the folding mechanism B to the sewing machines. This arrangement is shown in Figs. 20 to 22. A cam 226 on shaft 58 through a rod 228 and lever 230 rocks a shaft 232 mounted in the frame members l4 on which is mounted a segmental gear 234. Through a smaller gear 236 meshing with segment 234 and fixed on shaft 231 oscillating movement is imparted to large pinion gear 238 also fixed on the shaft. A rack 240 meshes with gear 238 and is guided in blocks 242 mounted on frame members l4 to slide longitudinally of the machine. Shaft 231 extends across the machine to operate a similar pinion and rack on the other side.

A pin 244 extends laterally inward from each rack and passes during movement of the rack through slots 245 in guide blocks 242. A block 246 on the pin acts as a guide for a vertically sliding feed member 248 normally pressed downward by spring 250. At the bottom of the feed member is the feed jaw 252 which is serrated to give a grip on the cloth.

Feed jaw control The feed jaw must engage the cloth during the forward movement only. Feed members 248 are therefore provided with laterally extendingrollers 254 which run along rods 256 as the feed member travels along its course. Rods 256 are mounted on the ends of arms 258 fixed on shafts 260, 262 journalled in the cross members H0. Rod 260 extends the length of the table and is connected by arm 264 and rod'266 to a cam 268 on shaft 62. Rod 262 is operated in synchronism with rod 260 by a link 210. A spring 212 acting on the end of arm 264 normally tends to hold the arms and rods 256 in lowered position, so that I the feed foot 252 can engage the blank.

Folding mechanism In line with the outer edge of clamping blade I36, I36 is the outer edge of folder guide member 213 (Figs. 23 to 30). This consists of a flat base 214 and an inwardly bent hem guiding section 216. A guide blade 218 overlies the front end of the hem guide, and its free end is bent upwardly. Guide blade 218'develops into a folding member, being gradually curved until it assumes the rectangular shape shown in Fig. 27. Blade 218 is mounted on base 214, and is slightly spaced at all points from section 216 so as to leave a passage of the type indicated in the drawings.

up to the level of the table l8.

A guide block 280 is also mounted on base 214 at the end of blade 218 (Figs. 31 to 34). This block has a flange 282 forming a continuation of blade 218 and a second flange 284 which gradually increases in width as shown in Figs. 23 and 31 at 285.

Guide member 218 has its end slightly turned up as at 286 to guide the blank beneath the folder.

Parallel to and slightly spaced from the edge of blade 218 is a member 288 which thus forms a slot or track through which the feed jaw 252 engages the blank.

The larger part of the table section 63 which lies beneath the folding devices is at a slightly lower-level than the sewing machine table l5. Where the two tables meet. the table section 63 has an upwardly inclined surface 283 extending The central portion 23l of the table I! slopes downwardly as indicated in Fig. 1 below the level of the table 68.

Auxiliary feed The main blank feeding mechanism does not carry the blank completely up to the presser foot 230 of the sewing machine. The production of narrow hems would be impossible if this were done. I therefore provide an auxiliary feed shown in Fig. 35. This consists of a pair of feeding jaws 232 which are located one on each side of the presser foot 230. These jaws are moved down onto the cloth, then forward, then raised and then moved backward by the mechanism to be described. v

A rock shaft 234 is mounted in uprights 236 on frame members l4. Levers 238 fixed on this shaft carry at their lower ends pivoted levers 300 on which the jaws 232 are mounted. Shaft 234 is oscillatedby a cam 302 on shaft 58 through lzever 304, link 306 and arm 308 fixed on shaft A cam 3|0 on shaft 58 operates through rod 312 and arm 3 to rock the transverse shaft 3l6. Arms M8 on shaft 3l6 are connected by links 320 to the inner ends 32| of levers 300 to impart rocking movement to such levers so as to raise or lower the feeding jaws. A pin and slot connection is provided between links 320 and lever arms 32l. This allows play which permits the jaws 232 to be held in constant engagement with the cloth on the table by spring 233 during their forward movement, in spite of the arcuate movement of the pivot point of lever 300 at the end of lever 238. The outermost of the jaws moves in substantially the same line as the main feeding jaw 252 or, mother words, in line with the track between members 218 and 288.

, A spring 303 normally acts on lever 304 to hold the jaws 232 in retracted position. A spring 3 acts on lever 3H and tends to hold the jaws in raised, non-feeding position. 4

- The sewing machines The sewing machines are entirely conventional and need not be described, except that of course right and left hand machines will be used. In

making handkerchiefs I use machines which hem-.

stitch, but for other purposes diflerent stitches might be used.

Sewing machine stop mechanism when the sewing machine reaches the end of a hem on onearticle, it must be stopped until a second blank reaches it. This is preferably accomplished by electricity.

Levers 322 pivoted on the frame at 323 through pins 324 move arms 325 mounted on shaft 321. Arms 325 carry cams 326 which control the clutches between the driven clutch portions 32 and the pulleys 34 (Figs. 36, 37, 38). A vertically sliding rod 328 is connected'to pin 324. A latch member 330 on this rod, normally urged outwardly by a small spring 33l engages beneath the movable member 332 of a suitable electric latch mechanism 333. When the lever 322 is depressed, cam 326 is pushed down by pin 324 and causes clutch 32, 34 to engage. Latch 330 holds the lever depressed and the clutch engaged. A spring 334 engages nose 335 integral with lever 331 also fixed on shaft 321. This spring normally urges cam 326 to disengaging position. The end of lever 331 is formed to engage the periphery of pulley 34, and when the cam 326 rises to disengage the clutch the lever 331 will engage the pulley under the action of spring 334 and brake the same to prevent overrunning. If a current of electricity now passes through latch 332, the lever will be released and will rise to disengage the clutch.

Pivoted on the frame adjacent the presser foot of the sewing machine is a lever 336 having a downwardly bent end or nose 333 which can enter a depression 330 in the table surface. nose 339 is weighted so as to overbalance thev otherend of the lever 336. The other end of lever 336 is connected as a part of an electric circuit which also includes a contact 340 just above the lever and which controls latch 332. A wire 3 extends from contact 340 and is connected through a battery'to latch 333.

As long as there is fabric beneath the end of lever 336, its nose will be held out of recess 338 and its other end away from contact 340. If there is no fabric present under the presser foot, however, the nose will drop into the recess and the lever will close the electric circuit, thus releasing the corresponding lever 322 and rendering the sewing machine operating on that side of the blank inoperative.

Circuit breaker In order to prevent the continued flow of current through the circuit so closed, or sparking at the contact 340, I break the circuit as soon as lever 322 rises. To an extension of lever 322 is connected a link 342 which through lever 344 and link 346 operates a lever 348 pivoted on the cross 7 frame member 0. The free end of lever 348 carries a button 350 directly over lever 336. When lever 322 rises, button 350 depresses the lever 336 and thus breaks the circuit at contact 340. Depression of lever 322 to put the sewing machine backlin operation raises button 350 and lever 336 can then return to its normal position to which it is urged by the weight of .its nose portion.

Sewing machine restoring mechan sm Shaft 58 carries a cam 352 which through a rod 354 and arm 356 rocks shaft 323, on which levers 322 are pivoted. Arms 360 fixed on shaft 323 are engageable with pins 324 which extend on both sides of levers 322. Obviously the rotation of shaft 323 will at the proper time depress the levers 322 until the clutches and latches reengage. If now a fresh blank has been fed to the presser foot, lever 336 will be held in raised position and the sewing machines will continue to operate. A spring 351 acts on the arm 356 and normally holds the levers 360 in raised position.

The

Presser foot operator Shaft 3l6 also carriesalever 364 which engages a pin 368 connected by a rod 368 to the usual knee operated presser foot mechanism, consisting of a pivoted lever 360 connected to the presser foot post 31I. will thus cause the presser foot to be raised and lowered at the proper times to receive the edge of a blank as it is fed forward by the auxiliary Jaws 292. J. v I

Thread break stop On the face of the sewing machine 30 is a pivoted lever 310 which is held in partly raised position by the thread passing through the machine (Fig. 39) :This lever is connected as a part of; an electric circuit. If the thread breaks, lever 310 drops' to the broken line position shown in Fig. 39 andengages contact 312 which closes a circuit through electric latch 314. This latch normally holds in-Yretracted position a plunger 316 which is pressed outward by spring 310. If the thread breaks, the circuit releases latch 314 and the plunger strikes main clutch control lever 26, moving it and throwing out the clutch 24. The whole machine then stops until the thread is restored. Manual closing of the clutch will then return plunger 316 to its normal, locked position.

Operation At the beginning'of the operation, the web of material extends from any suitable source and its end is held beneath theclamping' bar I56 (as shown at the left of Fig. 42) which is of course in lowered position. The parts are then in the positions. shown in Figs. 1 to 2a. Grippers 8 0, 02 are in retracted position (Fig. 10), and the gripping fingers are closed. Folding blades 208 are in their normal position overlying shoulders 202 (Figs. 16, 17). Clamping blades I36, I36 (broken Oscillation of shaft 3l6 by cams 3I0- lines Fig. 15) and slack bar I22 (Fig. 13) are. raised. The knife is in its normal position at the end of the machine. (Fig. 18)

At this time racks 240 are in their most advanced position (Figs. 2 and 2a) Feeding jaws 252 are raised (as shown in broken lines in Fig. 22). Auxiliary feeding jaws 292 are in their advanced, lowered position. Levers 322 areraised and the clutches 32, 34 are disengaged. 'Levers 348 are engaged with levers 336 and the contact at 340 is thereforebroken.

Now assuming that the motor is started, the blank feed jaw 252 begins to move back until it reaches a position near the opening end of the folding mechanism and just beyond the edge of the web. While this movement is going on, the grippers 8B, 92 begin to move forward beneath the clamping blades I36, I36 (as shown in broken lines, Fig. 15) until they enter the notches I12 in the web clamp bar I56. As the grippers move forward and approach the end of the web (broken lines Fig. 10), the gripper operating fingers I08 are depressed, so that the gripping fingers are caused to open, permitting the end of the web to enter between them (Fig. 12). Fingers I06 now rise and permit the grippers to seize the edge of the web.

The web clamp bar I56 now rises, and the grip-- ance with the setting of the bolt and slot connection at I30, I32, the bar will swing more or less below and beneath the table 60, and the length of the blank drawn into the machine will vary. This permits the machine to be adjusted to cut blanks of varying dimensions, and particularly in the case of handkerchiefs to produce square arti- A cles where the machine is to operate on webs of different widths. In other words, the slack bar serves to measure oif a certain amount of the web, which amount is adjustable. Also, it forms a slack in the blank which is desirable for the sewing operation.

As the slack bar nears the end of its downward motion, clamping blades I36, I36 and clamp bar I56 begin to move down. onto the web. As soon as the web is clamped '(Fig. 15), knife I II moves across and severs it (Fig. 45), thus forming the blank. During the cutting, the slack bar continues to rise until it reaches its raised position.

Gripper operators I04 are now depressed and cause the gripper fingers to release the blank, which is now held only by the clamping blades I36, I36.

The pressure of the blades I36, I36 carries the body of the blank below the level of the shoulders 202 which therefore cause the edges of the blank to turn upward as shown in Fig. 41. The folding blades 208 now swing over the blades I36, I36 (Figs. 42 and 46) and fold the edges of the cloth over on the clamping blades. During the latter part of this movement, the blank feeding jaw 252 moves to the position shown in Fig. 6 over the front end of the folded edge of the blank. Feed jaws 252 are now permitted to drop down onto the blank and grip the same. Meanwhile, the knife I14 is returning to its original position.

The members I36, I36 have been described above as clamping blades. This language is not intended to indicate that the blank is tightly gripped by such blades. The blades only exert a sufficient pressure on the web where it lies 'between the blades and the shoulders 204 to prevent the blank from falling out through the open central portion II of the table 69. The pressure is not suflicient to hold the blanks against movement when any considerable force is applied thereto. In other words, these blades serve to hold the blank in position against any slipping or movement caused by its own weight alone, but are not enough to retard the blank in any fashion against the force applied by the feed jaws 252. The downward movement of the clamping blades I36, I36 may be limited by means of adjustable screws 380 beneath the clamping blades.

Feed jaw 252 now moves forward and carries the front of the blank through the folder, in which the hem is folded as shown in Figs. to and 46 to 48 up almost to the sewing machine. These figures show that the blank enters the folder with only the single fold formed by the first fold blades 208 (Figs. 25 and 46). The free or inner edge of this fold is gradually turned down and under the body of the fold, to form a double hem fold.(Figs. 26 to 29 and 47). This fold is finally flattened down by the inclined surfaces 289 (Fig. 24). Sewing along the inner edge of this fold by a hemstitching'machine will now produce a hem of the usual character (Fig. 48). Jaw 252 is now raised, but auxiliary jaws 202 engage the blank and move forward to feed it beneath the presser foot 290 which has just been raised. The presser foot now drops down on the blank, and the auxiliary feed jaws are raised. Levers 322 are now depressed and the sewing machines begin to operate, sewing the hem which has been formed. The handkerchief leaves the machine hemmed on all sides and in finished condition.

When the levers 322 are depressed, arms 333 drop onto the handkerchief. When the sewing of the hem is completed, the blank moves from under nose 330, which drops and causes the circuit through latch 332 to be closed at contact 340. The lever 322 on that side of the machine rises, the sewing machine stops, and the button 350 moves down to depress the rear end of lever 336 and break the circuit.

As the auxiliary feeding jaws move forward, clamping blades I36, I36 are raised and the machine is returned to the position defined at the beginning of this description. This cycle of operations is then repeated. The machine is, so timed that, as the sewing machines finish one handkerchief, the next blank has been cut and folded and is ready to be advanced to the machines.

As the next followingblank reaches the presser foot which has been raised, under the action of jaws 232, the cam 352 rocks shaft 323 and thus moves arms 360 downward. These arms through the pins 323 depress levers 322 and cause the clutches 32,34 to engage. The sewing machines will now continue to operate on the new blank until they reach the ends thereof.

As the first fold made by the blades 208 determines the .final width of the handkerchief, this dimension is determined before the blank is moved in any manner from the place where it was cut from the web. The movement through the hem folder will not change the width, since the folded edge merely slides from the clamping blades I36, I36 onto the folder member 213 which is in direct alignment therewith. Satisfactory accuracy in the dimensions of the article can thus be obtained.

In the manufacture of articles with narrow hems, only the inner of the auxiliary feed jaws 292 will grip the article, but this is sufiicient to carry the edge beneath the presser foot of the sewing machine.

The slack bar I22 has the further advantage of providing slack between the two edges on which the sewing machines are operating. In the event that one machine moves slightly faster than the other this slack will prevent any tension which might tear the article or damage the machines. The slack bar of course represents a simple, yet accurate method of measuring oif an adjustable amount of the web.

Throughout the'specification and claims, the terms transverse" and "longitudinal" as applied to the blank and to the machine, are intended to refer to the vertical and horizontal directions in Fig. 2 respectively; but as applied to the web these terms have their ordinary meaning.

Furthermore, while I have described the operation and use of the process, the machine and its parts, as applied especially to the manufacture of handkerchiefs, I wish it to be clearly understood that the invention can be used in the production of many other articles, such as bags, towels, sheets and pillow slips; and that while I have described herein one modification and one especial use of the invention, I do not intend to limit myself thereby except within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: j

1. A process for making handkerchiefs which consists in drawing from a web of material a porpart of the blank portion from the path of the web through a predetermined distance to measure the blank and to form a slack in the center thereof, clamping the blank adjacent its edges, cutting off the blank from the web, forming a fold along I consists indrawing from a web of material a portion to form a blank, deflecting an intermediate part of the blank portionfrom the path of the web through a predetermined distance to measure the blankand to form a slack in the center thereof, clamping the blank adjacent its edges, maintaining such part of the web deflected, and while it is deflected cutting oil from the web a blank portion including said part, feeding the blank transversely of the web, and sewing the edges of the blank simultaneously while maintaining the slack therebetween.

3. A process for making handkerchiefs which consists in drawing from a web of material a portion to form a blank, deflecting an intermediate part of the blank portion from the path of the web through a predetermined distance to measure the blank, clamping the blank adjacent its edges, cutting ofi the blank from the web, forming a fold along at least one edge of the blank while so clamped, feedingthe blank transversely -.of the web, and sewing the folded edge of the blank.

4. In a process for forming handkerchiefs or the like, the steps of cutting off a portion of the web to form a blank, clamping the blank in the position in which it is cut off from the web, forming folds in the edge portions of the blank substantially parallel to the edges thereof while it is so clamped, feeding the blank transversely to the web, further folding the edges during such feeding operation, and sewing the folded edges of the blank. I

5. In a process for forming handkerchiefs or the like, the steps of cutting oil a portion of the web to form a blank,v clamping the blank in the position in which it is cut off from the web, forming folds in the edge portions of the blank substantially parallel to the edges thereof while it is so clamped, feeding the blank transversely to the web, and sewing the folded edges of the blank.

6. A process for making handkerchiefs or the like which consists in forming a slack in a portion of a web, cutting off such portion to form a blank while maintaining the slack in said blank forming portion, and sewing the edges of such blank simultaneously while maintaining the slack between the edges.

7. A process for making like which consists in forming a slack in a portion of a'web, cutting off such portion to form a blank while maintaining the slack in said blank forming portion, and sewing the edges of such blank simultaneously while guiding the blank to move in a straight line transversely to the web so as to maintain the slack between the edges.

8. A process for making handkerchiefs or the like which consists in forming a slack in a portion of a web, clamping such portion of the web near the edges thereof, cutting off such portion to form a blank while maintaining the slack in said blank forming portion, feeding said blank transversely while guiding its edges to move in straight 8,068,257 tion to forma blank, deflecting anintermediate handkerchiefs or the lines, and sewing the edges of such blank simultaneously while maintaining the slack between the edges.

9. A process for making handkerchiefs or the like which consists in clamping a blank, folding 5 the edge portions of the blank substantially parallel to the edges thereof while so clamped, feeding the blank in the direction of the folded edges, further folding the edges during such feeding operation, and sewingthe' folded edges.

10. In a process in which a blank is formed from a continuous webof material, the method of measuring the blank which consists in deflectving an intermediate part of the blank portion from the path of the web by a predetermined distance, maintaining such part of the web deflected, and while it is deflected cutting off from the web a blank portion including said part.

11. In a process in which a blank is formed from a web of material, the method of measuring 20 the length of the blank which consists in holding the end of the web in a predetermined position, deflecting an intermediate part of the blank portion of the web from the path of the web by a predetermined distance, and cutting oi the blank 5 portion from the web at a predetermined lineal distance from the end of the web and on the opposite side of such deflected portion from the end of the web.

' 12. In a process in which a blank with folded edges is formed from a web of material, the method of measuring .the length of the blank" and locating the folds therein which consists in holding the end of the web in a predetermined position, deflecting an intermediate part of the 35 blank portion of the. web from the path of the web by a predetermined distance, cutting off the blank portion from the web at a predetermined lineal distance from the end of the web, and folding the edges of the blank along lines spaced a predetermined distance from the positions of the end of the web and the point of the out while holding the body portion of the blankin the position in which it is when out from the web.

13. A process for making handkerchiefs or the like which consists in drawing off a blankpor tion from a web of material, clamping such blank portion near the edges thereof, cutting off such portion to form a blank, forming a fold along at least one edge portion of the blank parallel to such edge'whil'e the blank is still clamped, then feeding the blank in the directionof the folded edge transversely of the web, and sewing the folded edge.

e 14. In a processin which a blank is formed from a continuous web of material, a method of measuring a blank which consists in feeding a web longitudinally, holding the end of the web stationary, deflecting a part of the web from the path of the web by a predetermined distance to form a blank portion, and cutting off from the web such blank portion along a line which, at the time when such intermediate part is deflected, is located on the opposite side of such deflected portion from the end of the web and at a fixed lineal distance from the end of the web.

15. A machine for making handkerchiefs or the, like comprising means for drawing off from a web a portion of the web to form a blank, means for deflecting an intermediate part of the blank forming portion from the path of the web to form slack in said portion, means for cutting off from the web such blank forming portion while maintaining the slack in said blank forming portion to form a blank, means for feeding the blank 75 

